Ahmed is a young Bahraini. Like most Bahrainis, he is naive. On May 7, 2004, Ahmed was
arrested on drug-related charges. He has been imprisoned at the CID headquarters since
then. Ahmed is being treated as a criminal. He is being discriminated against. Ahmed is
being threathened and all his confessions have been extracted under duress. He is not
alone.

There are 64 people held in custody, some of whom have been there for nine months... All
of them have gone on a peaceful hunger strike. All they want is JUSTICE. All they are
seeking is to be put on trial immediately or released on bail until their trial
dates.Since May, Ahmed has lost his job. He did not see his baby daughter who was born
after his wife went into premature labour because of the stress.

Ahmed was picked up from outside his home at 10pm. He did not have a chance to tell his
wife what was happening to him. The first his family knew of his whereabouts was three
days later. In effect, Ahmed was kidnapped by the authorities. Ahmed has suffered the pain
and indignity in silence. In Ahmed's agony is Bahrain's shame. Is anyone listening?

1.15.2005

BD30,000 human rights award

A CALL has gone out to establish the His Majesty King Hamad International Human Rights Award.

The award is being proposed by Shura Council member and human rights activist Faisal Fulad, who hopes to make the recommendation to the council to institute the award, which would carry a BD30,000 prize.

He said the award, once given the go-ahead, will be presented by the government to local, regional and international human rights activists and organisations for their outstanding achievements.

Mr Fulad said the significance of the award is that it would also recognise His Majesty's efforts in promoting human rights at the local, regional and international levels. (Continued)

Hmmm... nice idea. But I think there is a more pressing need for a BD30,000 fine to be imposed on the individual/organization that has done the most to violate human rights in Bahrain. Since there are so many perfect candidates for this, maybe we could give out several such awards several times a year, until all those who deserve the recognition for their hard work (yes, torture isn't an easy job) get recognized. Maybe throw in a bunch of prison sentences for the outstanding candidates.

Quiz Time 28

How do judges in Bahrain feel today about themselves after ensuring that justice is being met in Bahrain's court systems as we are all seeing in Ahmed's case?

Are they happier men now that Ahmed has been behind bars for eight months while some of them are busy sipping Chivas Regal on the rocks and putting their grubby hands up little girls' skirts?

Are they achieveing justice in their double standards and by denying young Bahrainis the chance to stand a just and fair trial just because they don't belong to certain families and are not in the "in group"?